Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside in Europe & Central Asia
Europe & Central Asia: Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside was 18.8% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside in Europe & Central Asia, 1960–2023
Source: Staff estimates, World Bank (WB). Measured in % of total merchandise imports.
Analysis
In 2023, merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside in Europe & Central Asia stood at 18.8%.
That represents a change of down 2.6% on the previous year and up 17.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside in Europe & Central Asia peaked at 19.3% in 2022 and was at its lowest, 9.7%, in 1999.
Europe & Central Asia ranks 37th of 47 groups on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 64 years of available data.
Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside in Europe & Central Asia, year by year
| Year | % of total merchandise imports | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 18.7% | — |
| 1961 | 17.8% | -4.5% |
| 1962 | 17.7% | -0.7% |
| 1963 | 17.6% | -0.5% |
| 1964 | 18.0% | +1.8% |
| 1965 | 17.6% | -1.9% |
| 1966 | 17.4% | -1.2% |
| 1967 | 16.9% | -3.1% |
| 1968 | 16.6% | -1.7% |
| 1969 | 16.2% | -2.5% |
| 1970 | 15.1% | -6.7% |
| 1971 | 14.2% | -6.0% |
| 1972 | 13.6% | -3.9% |
| 1973 | 14.0% | +2.5% |
| 1974 | 17.2% | +23.5% |
| 1975 | 15.8% | -8.1% |
| 1976 | 16.2% | +2.5% |
| 1977 | 16.5% | +1.9% |
| 1978 | 15.3% | -7.7% |
| 1979 | 15.4% | +1.1% |
| 1980 | 15.9% | +2.8% |
| 1981 | 14.3% | -10.1% |
| 1982 | 15.4% | +8.1% |
| 1983 | 15.5% | +0.6% |
| 1984 | 15.9% | +2.6% |
| 1985 | 15.7% | -1.4% |
| 1986 | 11.0% | -30.0% |
| 1987 | 10.3% | -6.0% |
| 1988 | 9.9% | -4.0% |
| 1989 | 10.2% | +3.2% |
| 1990 | 10.4% | +1.5% |
| 1991 | 10.3% | -0.9% |
| 1992 | 10.1% | -2.0% |
| 1993 | 10.7% | +5.6% |
| 1994 | 10.4% | -2.8% |
| 1995 | 9.9% | -4.1% |
| 1996 | 10.4% | +4.9% |
| 1997 | 10.4% | +0.1% |
| 1998 | 10.0% | -3.7% |
| 1999 | 9.7% | -3.1% |
| 2000 | 10.7% | +9.8% |
| 2001 | 10.9% | +1.7% |
| 2002 | 10.8% | -0.5% |
| 2003 | 11.3% | +4.3% |
| 2004 | 11.6% | +3.2% |
| 2005 | 12.9% | +10.4% |
| 2006 | 13.5% | +4.7% |
| 2007 | 14.0% | +4.1% |
| 2008 | 14.9% | +6.2% |
| 2009 | 15.0% | +0.9% |
| 2010 | 16.3% | +8.9% |
| 2011 | 16.1% | -1.2% |
| 2012 | 16.5% | +2.4% |
| 2013 | 16.0% | -3.3% |
| 2014 | 16.2% | +1.5% |
| 2015 | 16.7% | +2.8% |
| 2016 | 16.5% | -1.3% |
| 2017 | 16.7% | +1.4% |
| 2018 | 16.7% | +0.2% |
| 2019 | 17.0% | +1.7% |
| 2020 | 17.9% | +5.1% |
| 2021 | 18.2% | +2.1% |
| 2022 | 19.3% | +5.6% |
| 2023 | 18.8% | -2.6% |
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside in Europe & Central Asia changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | -30.0% | 15.7% | 11.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 17.4% | 16.2% | 18.7% | 10 |
| 1970s | 15.3% | 13.6% | 17.2% | 10 |
| 1980s | 13.4% | 9.9% | 15.9% | 10 |
| 1990s | 10.2% | 9.7% | 10.7% | 10 |
| 2000s | 12.5% | 10.7% | 15.0% | 10 |
| 2010s | 16.5% | 16.0% | 17.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 18.5% | 17.9% | 19.3% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Europe & Central Asia
More private sector data for Europe & Central Asia
- Merchandise trade 62.2% (2025)
- Food imports 10.3% (2024)
- Manufactures imports 68.9% (2024)
- Merchandise imports 10.09 trillion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 10.6% (2024)
- Manufactures exports 72.8% (2024)
- Merchandise exports 9.97 trillion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 10,690 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.3089 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 6.75 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside in Europe & Central Asia?
- Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside in Europe & Central Asia was 18.8% in 2023, according to Staff estimates, World Bank (WB).
- What is the highest merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside recorded in Europe & Central Asia?
- The highest recorded value was 19.3% in 2022.
- What is the lowest merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside recorded in Europe & Central Asia?
- The lowest recorded value was 9.7% in 1999.
- How does Europe & Central Asia rank for merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside?
- Europe & Central Asia ranks 37th out of 47 groups with data for 2023.
- Is merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside rising or falling in Europe & Central Asia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 17.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Europe & Central Asia data come from?
- The figures come from Staff estimates, World Bank (WB), published as part of Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside region (% of total merchandise imports). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 64 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside region are the sum of merchandise imports by the reporting economy from other low- and middle-income economies in other World Bank regions according to the World Bank classification of economies. Data are expressed as a percentage of total merchandise imports by the economy. Data are computed only if at least half of the economies in the partner country group had non-missing data.